Mold for alkali balls



(NdModel.) K Y M. E. BRI-GHHAM.v

Y Y MOLD FOR ALKALI BALLS. No..2l60,832. i Patented Julyl'l, 1882.

hive" L r Yuba.; 5 mh. Y

UNITED STATES RATENT OEEICE.

MARTIN E. BRIGHAM, OF PHILADELPHIA, PEIINSYLVANIA.

MOLD FOR ALQKALI BALLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part o f Letters Patent No. 260,832, dated July11, 1882,

Application nien May 3, 1882. (ivo model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it knownl that I, MARTIN E. BRIGHAM, of the city and county ofPhiladelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement inthe. Manufacture of Lye into Balls, of which the followin g is a'speciiicatiom My invention has reference to the manufac ture of lyeinto balls, but more particularly to the peculiar shape and generalconstruction of the mold in which the balls of lye are cast.

Heretofore it has been found impracticable to cast more than one ball ata time, owing to the fact that the lye when being cast would solidify sorapidly that perfect balls could Ilot be made, and although muchexperimenting has been done to arrive at this end it has heretofore beenunsuccessful. In the molds as now used the cast-hole is of such a shapethat the balls are not perfect, and large projections will be found uponmost of them corresponding to the place through which the lye waspoured. The process of casting lye balls was therefore very slow andexpensive, and the wires cast in the lye balls, by which they areafterward dipped into a coating material impervious to moisture, wereinserted through the cast-hole and impeded the flow of the lye;

and, further, each ball was provided 'with a separate .wire and wasdipped separately.

My invention consists in the peculiar construction of a mold by whichtwo or more balls may he cast at one time and with the labor of castinga single ball; further, in so constructing and shaping the cast-holethat the balls are readily broken away from the lye in the cast-basin,and on a line even with the curved surface of the ball; further,inmaking` the molds in pairs and arranging a bent wire with its freeends into the two adjacent molds, so that when the balls are cast theyare held two and two, and may be dipped together and hung over a rail tosolidify; and in minor details of construction, all of which are fullyset forth in the following specification, and shown in the accompanyingdrawings, which form.

part thereof.

The object of my invention is to cast two or more lye balls at the sametime, enable two or more to be dipped at the same time, and supporteachf-other when drying, by which the cost of manufacture is greatlyreduced andthe product produced superior.

In the drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of my improved'lye-mold.Fig. 2 is a plan of same closed. Fig. 3 is a plan of same open. Fig. 4is a sectional elevation of same on line a: a: of Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 isa section illustrating the peculiar construction of the cast-hole.

A and B are the two halves of the mold, and are hinged together at C.The upper half of the mold is provided with a rod or handle, D, by whichto raise half B from the lower part, A. To insure proper register of thetwo halves the part B is provided with lugs E, which t between lugs F Fon part A, and also fit against the sides of the latter to preventlateral movement. If desired, any other convenient means to insureproper register of the two halves may be used. The lower half, A, of themold is made of solid metal, with two or more hemispherical depressions,G, therein, four being shown. The upper'half, B,vis also made ofsolidmetal, and is provided with a similar number of hemisphericaldepressions, H, which register with those G in parts VA to form spheresor balls. The half B is further provided upon its upper or out side witha hasin, I, large enough to extend over part/or all of each of thehemispheres H. The center of this basin is raised, as at K, which raisedportion corresponds with the center of four balls, as shown in Figs. 2andy 4.. The basin communicates with the hemispheres H by apertures J,of the peculiar construction shown.- These apertures are made by thethree curved surfaces-t' of basin I, 7c of raised part K, and lc ofsemi-hemisphere H-cutting each other at a point, j, andas all pointtoward a great circle of the hemispheres G H the line of rupture betweenthe solidified ball and the lye in the basin I will be in saidgreatcircle, and of whichv j is a point. By this construction the ballsmay be separated very readily, and broken from the lye in basin I on thesurface of said balls, leaving little or no protuberance when removedfrom the mold. Before casting, the bent wires L are laid as shown inFig. 3, the free bends extending over the depressions G and the bendsoutside the mold. When so placed the part B is turned over upon part A,as shown in Fig. l, and the melted lye is poured into the basin I, andis speedily guided through the holes directly into the molds. When theballs are cast the part B is raised' IOO and thrown back heavily orknocked, freeing the balls. They are then lifted out two and two bywires L, and after being dipped they are hung upon a rail by said wireto dry. This mold is equally adapted to cast other substances than lye.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

l. A mold for casting lye balls, which consists of two parts of metal,each provided with two or more hemispherical depressions arranged toregister with each other, the upper ot' said parts being furtherprovided with a cast-basin having its center raised, and apertures fromthe said basin between its sides and raised center into each of thehemispherical depressions in said part, the said apertures being socurved as to cause the melted lye to run directly through saine,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. A mold for casting two or more lye balls at the same time, whichconsists of metal parts A and B, hinged together, and each provided withregistering hemispherical depressions, the 2 5 part B being providedwith a basin, I, having a raised center, K, and also apertures J, saidapertures being formed by three curved surfaces intersecting each other,substantially as shown. 3o

3. In a mold for casting two or more lyc balls at the saine time, themetal parts A and B, hinged together at C, provided with registering-lugs E F or their equivalent, and each provided with theheinisphericaldepressions Gr H, 35 the part B being further provided with the basin I,having raised center K, apertures J, substantially as shown anddescribed, and rod or handle D.

In testimony ot' which invention I hereunto 4o setmy hand.

MARTIN E UGEN BRIGHAM.

Witnesses:

AR. A. GAVIN, 1t. S. CHILD, Jr.

